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Before asking a question, many common questions are already commonly asked and answered, and many answers exist in the sticky threads in this forum.

Read this post before and any relevant guide before asking a question...

If you ask a question that is answered by this FAQ, you'll likely be directed right back to this FAQ.

Finally, this is NOT a troubleshooting thread. Please do not ask questions regarding your specific problem in this thread. Open a separate thread instead. Only if you have a question regarding the content of this FAQ, or have a an idea for an additional Q/A in this thread, reply here.

The profile has 3 fields which are visible with each post you make. The three fields should be filled out as follows:
Mobo: manufacturer/model + bootloader(Clover/Chameleon/Chimera)
CPU: detailed CPU model + motherboard chipset
Graphics: all graphics devices + laptop internal screen resolution

Note: When specifying your bootloader, if using Clover legacy, please be sure to specify "Clover legacy"). Specifying "Clover" will be assumed as "Clover UEFI"

As mentioned above, if you have multiple systems, use the signature to place details for the second system. It is best to have your profile represent the primary system you are working with. So, for purposes here in the laptop forums, please make sure your profile indicates laptop details (desktop details can be easily placed in the signature).

In order to download OS X, you need access to the Mac App Store. Since the Mac App Store is only available from OS X, you need a Mac or working hack in order to access it.

If you don't own a Mac, you have two choices:

borrow a Mac from someone you know in order to download OS X and prepare your USB.

purchase a Snow Leopard DVD from Apple. Install OS X on the target computer using the appropriate version of iBoot. Get it working with 10.6.8, with built-in Ethernet, in order to access the Mac App Store, download OS X, and build a USB installer.

Borrowing a Mac is significantly easier than the Snow Leopard route, especially with modern hardware. Getting Snow Leopard to run on new hardware can be a challenge.

Q. I tried Unibeast but my laptop just reboots when using it. How to fix?

Setting DVMT-prealloc is the preferred way to overcome the assumptions made by the graphics kexts.
But you can also work around it by patching the framebuffer to match your BIOS setting (32mb on many Broadwell/Skylake/KabyLake).

Yes,... but be aware of DVMT-prealloc requirements for integrated graphics.

The default plists provided by the laptop Clover guide have patches for 32MB DVMT-prealloc.

Q. Is Kaby Lake supported?

Yes,... but be aware of DVMT-prealloc requirements for integrated graphics.

The default plists provided by the laptop Clover guide have patches for 32MB DVMT-prealloc.

Q. Is Intel Broadwell graphics supported?

Yes,... but be aware of DVMT-prealloc requirements for integrated graphics.

The default plists provided by the laptop Clover guide have patches for 32MB DVMT-prealloc.

Some laptops (especially ASUS) support setting DVMT-prealloc directly from the BIOS user interface. Obviously, if your BIOS has such an option, there is no need to resort to UEFI shell or efivars in Linux. Just set the setting directly from BIOS.

Q. Is Intel Skylake graphics supported?

Early reports are that 10.11.4 has enhanced Skylake graphics drivers that eliminate some of the problems reported with earlier versions of 10.11.

As with Broadwell (see question above), DVMT-prealloc must be set to 64mb (perhaps larger).

As mentioned in the question above for Kaby Lake, the SKL kexts seem to work if the device is spoofed as Skylake properly.
Newer versions of macOS also have native support (without spoofing) for Kaby Lake.

Unsurprisingly, you still need to set DVMT-prealloc just as for Broadwell and Skylake.

Q. Is Intel Coffee Lake graphics supported?

Coffee Lake graphics and brightness controls are a work-in-progress.

First native support in a normal macOS build is available in Mojave 10.14.

Q. Is my NVMe SSD supported?

The drivers Apple uses (IONVMeFamily.kext) for its own NVMe SSDs are not compatible with all PC NVMe SSDs.

With 10.13.x and later, NVMe with 512 byte LBA is better supported. But there are still compatibility issues with certain devices. For example, Intel NVMe seems to suffer from more compatibility issues than Samsung (Intel NVMe not recommended).

4k laptop displays are supported, but will probably require WhateverGreen.kext+Lilu.kext (you probably have these already for other reasons) and kernel flag -cdfon (it is provided in all applicable laptop guide plists).

Q. My keyboard and/or trackpad are not working. How to fix?

Keyboard/trackpad: Depends on PS2 drivers. There is no native support for PS2 devices in OS X. Correct drivers depend on what the manufacturer of your trackpad is.

Q. My USB ports are not working; or internal bluetooth, camera, or other device is not working. How to fix?

Especially since 10.11, there have been many changes to the USB driver stack. Most often, you will need to create a custom SSDT for USBInjectAll.kext to inject the ports that match your hardware, along with other fixes.

Note: When using AppleHDA injectors (so-called "dummy HDA"), you must rebuild cache in a very specific way when audio is lost. Also, such injectors must be installed to the system volume. They do not work when injected via EFI/Clover/kexts.

WiFi: depends on having compatible hardware. Recommendations:
BCM943252HMB or BCM943252Z (depending on required form factor)
BCM94360HMB or BCM943602BAED (depending on required form factor)
BCM94350ZAE (not recommended, tends to have issues)

Be aware that some BIOS implement a so-called "whitelist". A whitelist prevents you from installing cards that the OEM has not deemed compatible. In many cases, you won't know whether your BIOS implements a whitelist until you attempt to replace the WiFi card.

Note: If the device is not listed in post #1 of the linked WiFi guide, it is not supported. Intel WiFi, RaLink WiFi, and Realtek PCIe WiFi are simply not supported and must be replaced with something compatible.

Another choice (with 802.11ac) is the BCM94360HMB. It is a bit more native (device-id is supported natively), but also uses 3 smaller antenna connectors than are typical. So a bit more work to install. Same goes for (NGFF) BCM943602BAED if you need an M.2 2230 card.

Be aware that some BIOS implement a so-called "whitelist". A whitelist prevents you from installing cards that the OEM has not deemed compatible. In many cases, you won't know whether your BIOS implements a whitelist until you attempt to replace the WiFi card.

In some laptops, after installing supported WiFi hardware and enabling the driver as discussed above, the radio may refuse to power up. As a result, no networks are seen. Correct ACPI patches can sometimes help (eg. correct "OS Check Fix" patch). In other cases, even that is not enough (you will notice it affects both Windows, OS X and perhaps Linux). For half-mini PCIe, you can tape pin 20 to disable the "radio disable" function. For NGFF/M.2, tape pins 54 and 60.

If your laptop implements a whitelist, you may be able to rebrand a supported card to the IDs that your BIOS supports. You can then use FakePCIID.kext to convince OS X of the true identity of the device.

If you only need WiFi, AR9280 (AR5BHB92) is a good choice and is supported natively on versions prior to Mojave.

Closely related to AR9280, is AR9285 (AR5B195). It is usually bundled with AR3011 bluetooth, which unfortunately, is a poor bluetooth implementation for OS X. It also lacks 5Ghz as compared with AR9280.

Q. Is there a way to make Radeon or Nvidia graphics work in my dual-GPU laptop?

Not if the discrete card is not dedicated (eg. tied to the Intel device).

The discrete graphics capability in a switched dual-GPU configuration is not supported with OS X on hacks. Best you can do is disable the discrete part with SSDT/DSDT patches. See the prior question.

If your discrete device (AMD Radeon or Nvidia) is not routed through the Intel GPU, then it is considered dedicated. Some laptops have the internal display connected to the Intel GPU and the external HDMI/DP port connected to the discrete graphics device. It is rare, but in that case you would be able to get the device to work with the external display with proper kexts and correct configuration, much like a dual-GPU desktop setup.

Avoid USB WiFi. The drivers are poorly written and can cause instability, especially with sleep. Always test sleep without external devices plugged in.

If the computer is not autosleeping as per settings in SysPrefs->Energy Saver, it could be that one or more "sleep assertions" are active. You can check with 'pmset -g assertions' in Terminal. If you enable certain options (such as internet sharing), it will prevent sleep on lid close and due to timeout. Same goes for apps playing audio in the background. Or certain networking apps.

First you must have built-in Ethernet at 'en0'. So, you must install drivers for your Ethernet device. It is also possible if you have built-in WiFi at 'en0'. USB devices cannot be made to look built-in.

If your Ethernet (or WiFi, in the case of no Ethernet) is not at 'en0', try resetting the network interfaces. To do that, go into SysPrefs->Network and remove all interfaces, Apply, then remove /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist. Reboot, then add all your network interfaces back, starting with Ethernet.

Resetting the EC (EmbeddedController) can help if it gets into a bad state. To reset the EC, all power must be cut.

Shutdown, then disconnect all power sources including the battery. Hold the power button 30 sec. Reconnect power sources and turn on the computer.

Q. What are typical "Problem Reporting" files?

It is impossible to diagnose a problem without data that shows how your system is configured.

Also, impossible to analyze any data that you might provide without a clear understanding of your hardware. So make sure your profile is filled as per the first question in this FAQ, "Q. Where do I start?".

If you can't boot, a bare minimum is:

Boot verbose, attach photo

Attach EFI/Clover folder as ZIP (press F2 then F4 at main Clover screen just before collecting). Please eliminate 'themes' directory. Provide only EFI/Clover, not the entire EFI folder.

Note: Some laptops swap Fn+Fx for Fx. For those laptops, press Fn+F2 then Fn+F4. If you're not sure, press F2, then F4, then Fn+F2, then Fn+F4. You can also verify by pressing F1 (or Fn+F1) to see which one brings the menu.

If you can boot, but are having some other problem, describe the problem clearly and provide data...

Attach EFI/Clover folder as ZIP (press F2 then F4 at main Clover screen just before collecting). Please eliminate 'themes' directory. Provide only EFI/Clover, not the entire EFI folder.

Note: Some laptops swap Fn+Fx for Fx. For those laptops, press Fn+F2 then Fn+F4. If you're not sure, press F2, then F4, then Fn+F2, then Fn+F4. You can also verify by pressing F1 (or Fn+F1) to see which one brings the menu.

For 10.11 and later, attach output of (in Terminal):

Code:

sudo kextcache -i /

Older versions:

Code:

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions && sudo kextcache -u /

Compress all files as ZIP. Do not use external links. Attach all files using site attachments only.

Q. Is there a script that will collect all Problem Reporting data automatically?

Yes! (almost)

User @black.dragon74 has created a script (gen_debug.sh) that automates most of the "Problem Reporting" tasks (as described in the previous question).

The part it cannot do is pressing F2 and F4 for you at the main Clover screen.
And of course, it only works for the case you can boot into your system. If you have a problem booting, you must obtain and collect the verbose boot photo manually (and EFI/Clover).

I was trying a lot to get my HDMI audio working. Followed Toledo's guide - http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/audio-hdmi-audio-applehda-guide.143760/ . But the HDMI port appeared only in the System information, not in the System Preferences. But finally what worked for me was your guide on HDMI Audio mentioned above, which mentions that the layout id of HDAU should match that of HDEF's. Thanks a lot man!!

I'm having trouble installing Sierra GM Version on my Dell XPS 15 9550 Laptop. I get to the first part of the installer and it's installing sierra but when it reboots it won't continue to the user name etc screen. The installer starts again from the start and the hard drive where i installed sierra is called install macOS on Macintosh (My hard drive is formatted as Macintosh).
I know the usb isn't corrupt because I used the same USB to install on my Dell XPS 8300 desktop just replacing the config.plist and kext folder in the EFI/Clover folder and everything installed fine.

Im using Clover v3726 and doing a clean install in UEFI mode dual booting with Windows 10.. I've previously had El Capitan on this laptop and it worked fine.

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I'm having trouble installing Sierra GM Version on my Dell XPS 15 9550 Laptop. I get to the first part of the installer and it's installing sierra but when it reboots it won't continue to the user name etc screen. The installer starts again from the start and the hard drive where i installed sierra is called install macOS on Macintosh (My hard drive is formatted as Macintosh).
I know the usb isn't corrupt because I used the same USB to install on my Dell XPS 8300 desktop just replacing the config.plist and kext folder in the EFI/Clover folder and everything installed fine.

Im using Clover v3726 and doing a clean install in UEFI mode dual booting with Windows 10.. I've previously had El Capitan on this laptop and it worked fine.